Large quantity of cellphones bought raises red flags, Lebanon police notify the FBI

www.kspr.com...
LEBANON, Mo -- -

A large number of cellphones bought in the early morning hours set off concern in Lebanon.
Police say just before 4am Saturday morning, two men purchased about 60 phones from the Walmart store.
Police were called, but after talking with them police say they didn't have a legal reason to detain them.
But they did call the FBI.
"I'm not going to say just because they're a different religion or because they're Muslim. But these people were, they were foreign-speaking.

Large quantity of cellphones bought raises red flags, Lebanon police notify the FBI

My Woman lives in Lebanon Missouri, and with such a large Police force and presence, for such a small town, you could never expect Anyone to draw attention to themselves as these Muslims did.

Why on earth would anyone make 60 purchases that early in the morning at a small town Walmart? Its beyond reason, but the bottom line is here..Nowhere is safe...Even if there was no malice intended...But who really knows?

I know now to keep an Eagle Eye and my palm ready

a reply to: SPECULUM

....everyone at Costco is now a terror suspect.

a reply to: SPECULUM

From the article:

"I'm not going to say just because they're a different religion or because they're Muslim. But these people were, they were foreign-speaking. You need to take notice, you need to let us know about it because it doesn't hurt to check on it. You're not being racist or anything like that. You're just protecting yourself," said Laclede County Sheriff Wayne Merritt

Did the Sheriff ask them what religion they practiced? Also, what did he mean by foreign-speaking? This could be that they did not speak English, or they spoke English with an accent.

You had no reason to arrest them, but you called the FBI cause they were different looking and sounded funny?

Also from the article:

After the San Bernardino shooting, several media outlets reported some neighbors noticed suspicious activity at the home of shooters Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik.
No reports were made, however, out of fear of being accused of racial profiling.

This kind of thinking is what led to Japanese internment camps of the 1940's.

a reply to: hubrisinxs

actually its fairly common for the cops to be notified any time anyone buys over a certain number of cell phones in one stop, not sure on the exact number needed but i would guess 60 phones qualifies lol.

originally posted by: hubrisinxs
a reply to: SPECULUM

From the article:

"I'm not going to say just because they're a different religion or because they're Muslim. But these people were, they were foreign-speaking. You need to take notice, you need to let us know about it because it doesn't hurt to check on it. You're not being racist or anything like that. You're just protecting yourself," said Laclede County Sheriff Wayne Merritt

Did the Sheriff ask them what religion they practiced? Also, what did he mean by foreign-speaking? This could be that they did not speak English, or they spoke English with an accent.

You had no reason to arrest them, but you called the FBI cause they were different looking and sounded funny?

Also from the article:

After the San Bernardino shooting, several media outlets reported some neighbors noticed suspicious activity at the home of shooters Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik.
No reports were made, however, out of fear of being accused of racial profiling.

This kind of thinking is what led to Japanese internment camps of the 1940's.

I would suspect, based off my own experience, that the FBI was called because two guys who seemed to be out of place made an out of place transaction.

Certain kinds of people appreciate a good deal on a cheap throwaway phone. Some are legitimate, decent people.

Many aren't.

originally posted by: roaland
a reply to: hubrisinxs

actually its fairly common for the cops to be notified any time anyone buys over a certain number of cell phones in one stop, not sure on the exact number needed but i would guess 60 phones qualifies lol.

You would think..lol

Kinda Spooky really...I was talking crap on some Muslims one afternoon on the global webs and they threatened to take me out..I was hangin with my gal at Lebanon, laughing at their threats...Now i think i will be a lil more cautious on what i say while Terrorists are lurking about

a reply to: SPECULUM

First thing I thought of was this story: Marijuana and Cell phone smuggling inside Michigan Prison.

a reply to: roaland

They were notified and that seems reasonable, but the article clearly says they could find no reason to detain them.

The details seem lacking, and the article just did not set well with me.

In America, I assume most bulk purchases of cellphones are from drug dealers, not terrorist. So perhaps the FBI did have a reason for being notified, but does that justify criminalizing a group of people for their beliefs?

Remember only 0.9 percent, which is like saying 9 out of a 1000 people are Muslims, so I think we outnumber them here in Ameria... for now. Source

There have been rumors of this all over town the last two days. They say it happened here (small town North/Central Missouri)... and seems there are reports anywhere between Kirksville and Columbia..

At first I was dumbfounded that Lebanon would have Walmarts. When I read the rest of the article I realized it was a town Lebanon and not the country. LOL

Back on topic, I think it was right about another poster saying that store policy is to report suspicious purchases. This many phones would apply here regardless of race.

a reply to: roaland

Yeah, I've worked in retail and they did the same thing with prepaid gift cards to curb money laundering.

But surely every money launderer knows this. Just as any credible terrorist threat would know not to purchase a certain amount of cell phones.

Maybe just overzealous black Friday shoppers?

a reply to: Shamrock6

That's what I'm guessing. I was the ORC leader for my area when I did loss prevention and we would have communicated something like that. It's super sketchy.

a reply to: rockintitz

You would think.

But criminals aren't always the valedictorian.

I used to manage a cell phone store in the Metro Detroit area. Pretty common for people to buy out the big box stores when they have low prices to restock their own stores (either other cell phone stores, gas stations, convenience stores, etc...). Usually, we would just refuse the sale; only had to call the police twice in six years.

a reply to: rockintitz

that is exactly my point, its a policy, a policy that doesn't care what race or religion you are. Some are trying to point out that bc they are Muslim is the reason for this. That is not so from my experience. I can't speak for this particular clerk/store/instance but its a policy among many big named stores. they did the same thing with large amounts of beepers being sold at one time years ago if my memory serves.

Just watched the news and what they found even more disturbing, was earlier in the morning, another Walmart in Joplin Missouri had another large Cell purchase...They never said it was the same people? but both Lebanon and Joplin are on interstate 44, so it looks as if they were headed to either Rolla, or possibly FT Leonard wood, or even ST. Louis, as they are on the same Highway and direction. To me this all seems very Suspicious

Something bad is about to happen...I can feel it

a reply to: SPECULUM


I just mentioned we seen this in the Kirksville to Columbia area as well.. that is right between STL & KC... near Joplin... they hit the state...

believe our walmart reported... but that could be rumor... who knows

originally posted by: Winterpain
a reply to: SPECULUM


I just mentioned we seen this in the Kirksville to Columbia area as well.. that is right between STL & KC... near Joplin... they hit the state...

believe our walmart reported... but that could be rumor... who knows

Crazy ain't it? seems they are tooling up for some Mischief

Well, the cops should follow up on this and in three days, call the number of the cell phones. They should be active and hooked up to a bomb by then. It will take that long to get them all attached to the bombs. It will take another two days to get them placed where they are going to be used, so time is of the essence here.

a reply to: rickymouse

Hopefully this turns out to be nothing; I know huge amounts of people come from China/Japan when the new iphones are released so they can take them back home and resell them for outrageous amounts of money.

On the otherhand, I read one of the terrorist-related people in France (maybe one of the ones in the apartment?- cant remember) were asked how they planned everything so smoothly and the answer was "text messages".